Bare Theatre’s ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’ delights

Bare Theatre is honoring this 400th anniversary year of William Shakespeare’s death with a delightful production of the rarely produced “Two Gentlemen of Verona,” accomplishing several admirable goals.

The show is going out to the people, with performances in Raleigh, Durham, Research Triangle Park, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough throughout June. The outdoor venues are non-traditional performance spaces geared to relaxed viewing. And all performances are free, making them not only affordable but also open to casual passersby.

That’s what happened at Saturday’s first performance in the N.C. Museum of History’s courtyard. Downtown visitors often stopped to check out the proceedings, a number deciding to stay.

In this comedy, considered Shakespeare’s first play, Valentine leaves Verona to seek his fortune in Milan, where he falls in love with the Duke’s daughter, Sylvia. His friend Proteus stays behind to woo Julia but eventually joins Valentine. Proteus, too, falls in love with Sylvia, with complications ensuing when Julia arrives and discovers his redirected affections.

Bare Theatre’s simple setting uses a wooden table functioning also as seat, bed and hideaway. A yellow rope delineates the playing space, although actors use the audience area for parts of scenes. Funky contemporary costumes add humorous detail.

Being drawn in is easy with Bare Theatre’s likable cast, whose joyous energy is channeled into confidently portrayed characters, clearly enunciated, with obvious understanding of the text. Director G. Todd Buker elicits a crackling pace in this 90-minute version, helping to distract from several plot weaknesses. He’s cast Valentine as a woman, but not dressed as a woman, injecting gender-bending interpretations to the situations.